Sanford and Colbert Busch Roughly Even On Cash, not on Outside Spending

Former Republican governor Mark Sanford and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch — facing off next Tuesday in special election for South Carolina’s First District — were closely matched in terms of cash-on-hand as of April 17, the closing date of the candidates’ most recent campaign finance reports.

In addition, a tally of reports of donations since then — which, with the election looming, the candidates must file within 48 hours of receiving them — shows they have raised roughly the same amount since then, with a slight edge for Colbert Busch. Each has brought in a bit less than $200,000 in that period.

Through April 17, Colbert Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, had raised almost $1.2 million, while Sanford had raised just $787,000. But Colbert Busch had spent more, leaving her $254,000 in cash on hand, while Sanford had $284,000. OpenSecrets.org has unveiled profiles for all of the upcoming special elections,including the one in South Carolina’s First District.

Since mid-April, large checks continue to roll in for both candidates. For example, in a filing made yesterday, Sanford reported bringing in at least $12,800 in donations from large donors. And since April 17, he has picked up donations from PACs like Boeing. The National Rifle Association’s PAC gave him $2,000 on April 25, while Club For Growth sent him $5,200 (according to a Club for Growth spokesman, that figure represents bundled money). Sanford also received a check from Howard Rich, a wealthy, Northeastern libertarian who has become deeply involved in South Carolina politics and is behind a network of politically active, nondisclosing nonprofit groups.

Similarly, on Tuesday Colbert Busch reported picking up $11,800 from several big donors, including $7,000 from union PACs. The 48-hour reports cover only donations, not expenditures, so it’s impossible to tally more recent cash-on-hand figures for the candidates.

The updated profiles on OpenSecrets.org include analyses of who each candidate has turned to for cash. From Feb. 28 to April 17, both candidates received roughly equal funding from large individual donors — those who give more than $200. Those donations, which are itemized in FEC reports, amounted to $432,000 for Colbert Busch and $405,000 for Sanford. But when it came to small individual donors, giving $200 or less, Colbert Busch had a huge lead. She received $339,000 from small donors, while Sanford picked up just $35,000.

Both candidates received more, in terms of large contributions, from in-state donors than out-of-state donors, but Colbert picked up 68 percent of her money from within South Carolina, while Sanford’s in-state haul was smaller, 52 percent. In a new feature, CRP also analyzed the amount of itemized donations coming from in-district and out-of-district: Colbert Busch received 56 percent of her itemized contributions from donors within the state’s First District, but only 26 percent of Sanford’s were from the district.

Both campaigns had donors — individuals and PACs — from a variety of interest group areas, and both saw support from traditional backers of their respective parties. Lawyers and law firms were the top backers of Colbert Busch’s campaign, giving her $38,250. She also picked up support from the education industry and industrial unions. Given her famous brother, it’s no surprise to see that donors from the TV, movies and music industry chipped in $13,200.

Besides raising far less money than Colbert-Busch, Sanford is taking a huge hit when it comes to outside spending. According to OpenSecrets.org’s profile of the race, outside groups have spent more than $929,000 on independent expenditures against Sanford. Conservative groups have spent only about $15,000 to help him. Meanwhile only about $4,600 has been spent by outside groups attacking Colbert Busch, while $1,500 has been spent upporting her.

The bulk of the outside spending against Sanford has come from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as well as House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC. Both disclose their donors. While Colbert Busch’s brother has mocked nondisclosing outside groups on his Comedy Central show, they have mostly stayed out of the race.

Clarification: An earlier version of this story said that Club For Growth donated to Sanford. According to a Club for Growth official who called us after the story appeared, that group did not donate the money itself, but bundled contributions to Sanford — a fact that was not indicated in candidate’s 48-hour report.We have updated the text of the story.

Russ joined the Center in March 2012 as the money-in-politics reporter. His duties include reporting for OpenSecrets Blog and assisting with press inquiries. Russ has a background in investigative journalism, having worked as a reporter for the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, and he spent five years as a newspaper reporter in New Hampshire. He has a degree in political science from Muhlenberg College and a M.A. in journalism and public affairs from American University.

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